With our departure from the busy port of Southampton, we decided to drive down the night before and take advantage of a nights accommodation with breakfast, including car parking (upto 15 days) and transfer to the port included for £149, which the next day seem very good value for money as we were then relaxed and ready for the cruise we had looked forward to all year.The Black Watch carries less than 1000 passengers, so is only a small ship, but provides enough facilities to keep us active for our two days at Sea on our journey to Iceland!
Our suite was based on deck 7, and was ideally located for Restaurants, bars and the Library, as well as being a comfortable sized room, with a separate bedroom area. We choose a late sitting for our evening meal in the Glentanar restaurant, which is on deck 6, although you can choose the newly renovated Braemar Garden Café, which offers a buffet service, so you can choose to dine at anytime from around six thirty.
The choice of menu for each meal, breakfast, lunch and evening meal, has something to satisfy all tastes, and if you cant find anything on the a la carte menu, then the buffet is always open! Even if that does not have your choice then just ask, and whatever you want, within reason, the friendly staff will always try and cater for you.
Then there is afternoon tea, which you can take the normal service which is normally served in the Braemar Lounge, and offers tea, sandwiches with a selection of cakes or why not try the Traditional afternoon tea, which is a supplement of £5.95 per person, and includes Teas from Taylors of Harrogate in your porcelain pot, finger sandwiches, dainty pastries and warm scones with Jam & cream, served by white gloved staff, and accompanied by Piano melodies all in the Observatory Bar.
In the evening along with having entertainment in every bar area, there is the Neptune Lounge which has a wide variety of Shows, every night of the week. After the shows we could then continue, if we wished, in the Lido bar, which offered entertainment to the small hours.
All this meant we were refreshed and ready for Iceland, unfortunately we were unable to stop at the first port of call Heimay, due to the weather and being unable to board the tenders, instead an alternative of a cruise around Surtsey, which is one of the worlds newest islands, and started forming in 1963, by a volcanic eruptions, and the island still is free from human interference, fascinating and eerie.
We then continued our cruise and because of missing the stop at Heimaey, we arrived a night earlier in Reykjavik and were able to leave the ship that evening to tour the city. The following morning all passenger left the ship most opted for the Golden Circle tour, or the Blue Lagoon, both of these tours, offer once in a lifetime experience and very worthwhile, although we chose the Blue Lagoon, which was very enjoyable and relaxing.
The next morning we arrived in Isafjordur, a small town, were the Black Watch towered above all the buildings, and as we found out from our walk out of the town, could be seen for miles so we couldn’t get lost. As I say here we choose to stay local and as it was a beautiful sunny winters day, the walk was made even more enjoyable and the stunning views around the area from every angle took on a new look, we then departed late afternoon sailing through the mountains in the calm waters, looking back over were we had walked to and regretting a little we had not walked around those last few corners!
The next morning we arrived at Akureyi, for an early start, as we only had till early afternoon, we had arranged a 4x4 jeep, which took us down unfrequented roads, first to Godafoss (“waterfall of the Gods”), you could see the mist from the waterfall for miles around and the spectacle was even better close up. When we arrived the coach trips from the Black Watch were already there, although they had taken the less bumpy route! We then headed with our informative driver to a more secluded waterfall, Aldeyjarfoss, with its contrast of black basalt columns and the white waters of the fall, a hidden gem that we were lucky enough to see, only those on the 4x4 tour!
We then were driven over some beautiful and changing landscapes to Myvatn for a coffee stop and to take a look over the lake, one thing we noticed was the quietness, no noise not even bird in the area.
We then made in back to the Black Watch in time for our departure from Iceland and our overnight cruise to Norway and Alesund, here again we had an early arrival and we took the opportunity to take a walk around the small but elegant waterfront, before heading back to the Black Watch for our tour, a cruise through the Fjords on a small cruiser, enabling us to get deeper into the Fjords, so they majestically rose dramatically above us, with waterfalls cascading from all angles, magnificent!
After making our way back to the Black Watch, we departed late afternoon to Bergen, here again we chose to walk into the town, there was choice to take a shuttle bus for £5 return, but we took a chance even though it looked as if rain was about to come, but there again Bergen does have 300 rainy days a year, so chances are it was always going to have some rain and it did not disappoint! Having said that, the journey was worthwhile, seeing the Old Town and taking the funicular cable car of Bergen, gives you a wider view of what the city and the area has to offer. Alternatively we could have done the popular Norway in a Nutshell, which operates all year and everyone who went on the tour said how wonderful and worthwhile it was.
We then headed for our last port of call Farsund, which is a small town, again and has the most fabulous beaches and small harbour area in the town, which was a walk away, or a shuttle bus was on offer for £5 return.
We arrived back in Southampton, with a quick exit from the Black Watch and then taxi back to the hotel to collect our car we headed home, for what was a very enjoyable and stunning cruise.
